Congressional pay raise

I agree with The Star’s editorial “Congress should vote on annual pay raise” (1/6, Opinion). Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see our leaders show some statesmanship and not accept the $4,700 pay increase?

People need to know that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has prevented a vote on this issue. Representatives in Congress have requested this be put to a vote, yet she has refused.

Term limits are the answer! Too many people stay too long in Congress. Let’s give 10 years for the Senate and six years for the House. Double their pay, and then cut off all benefits. They can return to society like the rest of us and earn a living. This is the only way we can reduce the corruption that goes on in Washington.

Ralph McFillen
Overland Park

Comments

[CRD]

Trudy, can NMMNG be banned? I think he's asking for it.

[solomon]

TinaMcG,

I am duly admonished. NotEvenAWhiteGuy is so racist that I have repeatedly accused him of overcompensating because he's never been accepted by white people in general. I gauge this on the fact that I know how asians and part Asians were treated in our society in his formative years. I'm old enough to remember Popeye cartoons such as "Your a Sap, Mr Jap".

He has made so many outright racist comments here and good people like Engineer have responded to my outrage over them with things like "I comment on the things I choose to" which to me is the same as condoning the comments. He finally crossed the line with his First Ho comment, basically calling all black women in america ho's. Only Marctnts of all of the others here and myself objected. From his demeaning of community activists to his asking why blacks say "axe" instead of "ask",(as if asians typically speak the kings english) he has been tolerated here for far too long.

So as I said, I am duly admonished by your objection to my giving him some of his own medicine, I am not a Dr and don't play one on this blog. Since you object I will never again call the a-hole "numba won son", which although stereotypical of treatment he received growing up is not even approaching the things he says.

You know, I thank you for letting me say this in this way, not that it will make a difference to the people like BuddyT and Engineer who use terms like "race-pimps" to describe black ministers and "race-hustlers" for anyone who speaks up for their community and no one but me objects. I find racist acceptance very objectionable.

[Pub 17]

OK, "phô boy."

[TinaMcG]

Solomon, though I usually agree with your comments, it bothers me to see an Asian referred to as 'numba one son'. That's a racial reference, and if you want to show him disrespect, I don't see why you have to bring his race into it.

[solomon]

TinaMcG,

Don't bother reporting numba won son, thats how I actually started on this blog long ago and he's never been banned.

Now he's just a racist idiot that I accept as someone people here and at the Star with "high moral values" about everything from race to horse racing accept as someone they've known or are related to.

If anything enjoy the fact that since he is part asian his anger comes from not being accepted by the group who he longs for approval of.

[TinaMcG]

Uh, yeah, okay, let's give senators one full term plus four years of their second term. Or let's rip open the Constitution and begin fiddling around with everything. We'll just have a tweak-fest, because you know, people who like to come up with black-and-white solutions to complex issues know SO much more than the founding fathers.

Keeping them all in congress for as long as possible means fewer of them can become lobbyists -- or didn't you know that's what so many of them do when they lose their seats?

[devin]

Term limits sound good in theory, I suppose, but I have two problems. First, if "we the people" like a leader enough to keep re-electing that person, why should an arbitrary law stand in our way? Second, and more troubling, is it seems this would lead to more of the behavior where representatives bounce back and forth between government positions and industry positions with the very industries they're supposed to be regulating. This has already posed serious problems in our regulatory agencies. Do we really want to exacerbate this problem further?

[TinaMcG]

NMMNG, I won't even quote what you said in my response. All I'll do is report your post as offensive, if not felonious, content.

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

Congress and the Senate should be taken out and all lined up and shot.